Join us for a chat about the journey of moving from a sense of impossibility to realising the immense power held in our hands to take action, everyday. We can all do our bit with simple lifestyle changes from not wasting food to eating local and in season foods. These simple changes when nurtured grow and become a biodiverse garden of actions, that inspire others to join a movement and suddenly the impossible is possible.
Guests are:
Joan Culligan, Retired Home Economics teacher and member of Thorndale Residents Association: Born on a farm where Joan developed a love of food and the land. Joan's love for cooking was inspired by her grandmother who lived with them. She worked in a north city all girls secondary school for 35 years where she taught home economics and co ordinated transition year. When she retired she got involved with her local community to develop the green area near their houses.
Garrette Clarke, Sustainable Lifestyles Programme Officer with the United Nations Environment Programme: Garrette is the Sustainable Lifestyles Programme Officer, in the Industry and Economy Division of the UN Environment Programme in Paris. With a sustainability career spanning over 30 years, her expertise lies in promoting how we can live better and lighter. Technically referred to as ‘sustainable consumption and production,’ her team runs research on sustainable living, develops methodologies to support disruptive change and engages partners, including new wild cards like, youth activists, social media platforms and cultural influencers. She has a Master’s degree from Goldman School of Public Policy (University of California, Berkeley) and a BA in Medieval History from Smith College (United States).
Catherine Cleary, Irish Times Food Writer, and Co Founder of Pocket Forests: Catherine is an award-winning journalist, author and nature activist. In 2020 with co-founder Ashe Conrad-Jones they set up Pocket Forests, a Dublin-based social enterprise helping communities create space for nature in urban areas. She is the author and co-author of four books. She spent more than a decade writing about food for The Irish Times and has hosted several podcasts. Last year she planted more than 6,000 trees to establish a native woodlands and wilding project of over 24,000 native trees in Co Roscommon.
Angela Ruttledge, Head of Public Engagement with FoodCloud: Angela is a solicitor with a background in financial, corporate, and commercial law. She served on the council of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and is a member of the board of Fáilte Ireland. Angela ran a restaurant group for 12 years and before joining FoodCloud she co-founded Vytal Ireland, the country's first digital platform for reusable packaging. Angela is an Eisenhower Fellow (Global Leadership Programme 2023) and occasionally writes for The Irish Times.